A Sylveon to love
by geddy135
Summary: Follow Thomas as he finds an unexpected partner out of his grim adventure.
1. The end

[I do not own Pokemon or any of their characters and whatnot. I do however own Thomas.]

~I'm making this fanfiction for a number of reasons but the main two is because there's really no fanfictions between a trainer and a sylveon and to just blow off some creative steam. This is my first fanfic btw so if the pacing is weird (or just plain bad) that's why. This fanfc is going to be sort of a fluff type thing for the first couple chapters and I'm still on the fence on whether I want it to be a lemon or not. We'll see I guess.~

Chapter 1

* * *

The end

Today was the day he was going to do it. Thomas grabbed his supplies, stuffed them in his grey and yellow bag, got some water and left. He knew the walk was going to long but it didn't matter. He had been planning on doing this for a while now but he decided now would be as good a time as any. As he closed the door behind him he wondered if he should lock it or not, after all he was going to gone for a while. He decided he'd just leave it unlocked.

Today was a nice day, cool enough for his skin to be cold but with the sun out, without a cloud to be seen, so it warmed him up at the same time. Thomas loved that feeling. He wondered if it would be like this again tomorrow. A lot of thoughts were going through his mind but he decided to ignore them all and to just start walking. He didn't have a set destination other than out of town. He wanted to be out of city and commotion that came with it. He liked the silence and ambiance that came with being out of the city. It calmed his nerves like rain on a stormy night, another thing he enjoyed. As he walked he ended up thinking of the little things he did enjoy and started second guessing himself but he persisted on.

Thomas had been living on his own for a while now. When he was younger he decided being a trainer wasn't something he wanted to do. He actually never really quite knew what he wanted to be so he just took what he could get which was enough to get him through life but not very contented with himself. He never had anything against pokemon but, in truth, he was just scared of responsibility. That was one of his main weak points along with procrastinating. He always put tasks aside to the point where he could almost never accomplish them anymore or ended up doing said tasks so late that it almost wasn't worth it anymore. That's why he never wanted to be a trainer or wanted a pokemon as a pet, in fear of neglecting his partner to the point where it either didn't like him anymore or just flat out kicked the bucket from starvation or something.

Finally getting to a point where things started to not be familiar anymore, Thomas noted he had been walking for a while. He dug out his water bottle, opened it, and sipped a bit out. Feeling a little better, he decided to scout out a specific area he wanted to use. With the city at least a mile or two behind him now, there was a lightly wooded area on both sides of him now so he decided to go off the beaten path and stroll through the slightly shaded area. Thomas used to live out in an area like this and remembered just how much he liked walking through all the flora. He loved the smell of all the nature around him. There was nothing wrong with the smell of where he lived but out here was just so much more fragrant.

Eventually he came up on a small stream. Not quite small enough to be a creek but not quite big enough to be a full blown river. It reminded him of the one he would visit with his friend back when they lived close to each other. He followed it for a while, taking in the browned and yellowed scenery caused by the cold touch of the fall time, not knowing that something was also following him.

Finishing his bottle, he pushed it back into his backpack, although he wondered how much that would matter in a couple hours. Thomas never was a super "keep the planet green" kind of guy but he could also never bring himself to just throw his empty bottle or other various trash items onto the ground. He was always tought to not do that so it felt wrong to do anything with trash other that throw it in a trash can. He knew it would eventually just end up in a land fill a week later anyway but hey, at least land fills are either discrete or well out of view. Thomas noticed that since he left it had became a bit overcast and with the sun being blocked out now he was starting to get cold so he unraveled his jacket sleeves to help better warm himself. Thomas like the cold. Not the initial uncomfortableness of being chilled but the act of warming himself to become comfortable. Today was one of those days where it wasn't so cold that you need several layers of heavy, furred jackets but just one over a t-shirt to be comfortable. After pulling his sleeves down he felt better and continued his journey.

After he found a suitable spot for his activity he decided to just relax for a bit, after all, he had been walking for a couple hours now. At first he was a little aggravated for finishing his water so early in his journey but after rummaging through his bag he found that past-him decided to give him a little reward for his hard efforts and saw that he had indeed packed a second bottle. Feeling relaxed and calmed by the atmosphere of his surroundings, he started second guessing himself again. He thought of all the nice things he enjoyed that he noticed on his way here that he starting thinking if this is really him, something he'd want to do. As he was wondering this he also remembered how utterly alone he was. Not just the fact that he was literally out in the woods by himself but that he was never really close with anyone.

When Thomas was growing up his family was always there but there were never really there for him. Sure he never went to bed hungry or hurt but his family never showed any kind of affection. It wasn't like they were trying to be mean or inconsiderate, it just wasn't something they did growing up. They never hugged after a long day or said "I love you" at night or anything like that. And for that reason Thomas never had girlfriends or anything of the sort going through school. He had friends but no one to ever have serious feelings for. Instead of trying to constantly get with people, like the students around him alway seemed to be doing, he did the opposite. He never tried to hook up with anyone and politely declined anyone that wanted to be with him. After undergoing so many years of never dealing with endearment, by the time he got to highschool he didn't even try to be somebody's special someone because he just thought he was incapable.

Thinking about all the years of loneliness and how he denied any sort of attachment from anyone started making him depressed agian. He thought all the nights he spend silently sobbing himself to sleep after a long day and nobody to come home to. All the nice things he was thinking about earlier to try and deter himself from doing any of this in the first place went right out the window as he started to sob and surrender to all the melancholy thoughts he knew all to well.

He unpacked his bag and prepared for what he came out here to do.

Waking up, she found herself exacly where she left herself to sleep last night. The sylveon had been "freed" by her trainer after she unintentionally evolved into what she is now. Since just a little eevee, this sylveon loved her trainer so much. She thought he did too untill one day she evolved. After that, her trainer was furious and got her sent back into the wild almost as soon as it happened. She was sure her master would be proud of her after she did this and was still in shock as to why she was out in the wilderness by herself.

Sylveon had been out here for a couple days now, she wasn't sure how long it had been, and with her never having to fend for herself before was starting to feel the affects of not eating a proper meal for a couple days. Malnutrition was starting to set it. Luckilly she had came across a stream and was a little better off but was still having trouble finding any sort of edibles in the area.

Exploring a bit more of the area and still trying to get a feel for how survive on her own, she was supprised to see another human out here. Other than the occasional weedle or fletching, she hadn't really seen any other life, much less a human. It was the last thing she was expecting. The human that she had discovered didn't look threatning, if anything maybe a bit down, so she decided to follow him, careful not disturb him.

After following him for a while she started wondering about him. Why was he out here? Was he looking for something? Is he lost? Is there a way for me to help? All these questions ran through her head as she silently pursued him.

As they walked, she noticed some small things about him. Though a bit sad looking, he looked as though he was looking for something. He looked calm the way he walked, slowly moving his head around to soak in the scenery. He didn't look like he was in a hurry but also wasn't walking like he was trying to stall for something. He didn't look lost but she could tell he didn't recognize anything he looked at. There was a relatively small bag he had on his back and she wondered what he could have in there. She didn't know why she followed him for so long but she did. Maybe she was concerned for him or that she just missed being around humans. She didn't know but she persisted on.

Coming to what seemed like his destination, the human stopped and sat down to take a rest. He looked a bit winded although they were only walking a leisurely pace. From that she gathered that he had been walking for quite some time before she started following him. He looked a bit aggravated as he looked though his bag but quickly became content again as he pulled a water bottle out of his bag. She wondered why he didn't just drink out of the stream they had been following the whole time but didn't think much of it. After a couple minutes of him just sitting there she could see the sad look on his face becoming more sorrowful and then saw him begin to tear up and weep a little. Seeing this broke her heart, she became concerned and even a bit sad herself. Her following him took her mind off of the fact that she was indeed abandoned and her seeing him sad like that reminded her that she too was also sad. She wanted to comfort him but still wasn't sure how he'd react to her.

When the human was done softly sobbing to himself, sylveon noticed him start to look through his bag again. After a minute or so of getting all of the contents out she saw that the only other thing in there, besides the water bottle was a long rope. He started tying it and then walked over to oddly shaped tree she hadn't noticed before. He threw one side of the rope over a branch and fastened the other side to the tree so that the weird knot was hanging down. He climbed the tree up to the branch that he threw the rope to and began pulling up the knot. At this point sylveon was worried that the human might hurt himself so she prepared herself to help if the need come.

She had no idea what the human was planning and was shocked when he put the knot around his neck and lowered himself so that only his arms were keeping him from choking. She watched in horror as he took one last look around before letting go. At this point the sylveon was panicking and it took her a minute to react. She eventually came back to her senses and ran over to him. With one swift, well placed cut, she had sliced the rope letting him fall to the ground. The way he had fashioned the rope, he didn't fall but maybe a meter or so. When he hit the ground he fell over on his side and just stayed there on the ground not moving. Sylveon began to think she was too late. After another minute and her getting the rope off his neck, he still didn't get up and at this point the sylveon was crying trying to wake him up. She eventually gave up trying to wake him and just lie down next to him crying because she was too late and there was nothing she could do. She started criticizing herself because even though she was there the whole time, when he needed her most, she froze up and wasn't quick enough. She didn't know how she could live with herself after that.


	2. A friend to help

Chapter 2

A friend to help

* * *

Everything was black. Was this what it was like to be dead? Everything was quiet. Wait, no. Thomas felt something. Pain. Pain? But he was dead, he was sure. How could he feel pain, specifically in his left ankle. He tried opening his eye. Everything was bright for a minute but once his eyes adjusted he realized he was right under the tree where he tried to hang himself. Thomas sat up and quickly did a self evaluation. His ankle hurt a bit and his neck was a bit tender but otherwise he was fine. He looked to his side and saw the knot he tied, the noose, next to him on the ground. He also noticed the perfect cut on it and quickly registered that it couldn't have broke like that.

He looked up at the sky and saw it was getting pretty close to sunset and felt how cold it actually was outside. At that moment he heard a very small rustle from beside him. Turning around he saw the relatively small pile of white and pink fur asleep next to him. She seemed as though she passed out from crying by her irregular and sporadic breathing. Thomas didn't know a whole lot about Sylveons and Pokemon in general and wasn't sure whether he should wake her or not. He decided to bite the bullet and check on her, as it was, he didn't exactly come out here too concerned for his health.

He stroked her down her soft, short furred back getting the initial jump he was expecting from waking her. She looked around surprised then looked up at him with her big baby blue eyes and just stared for a moment. New tears started to form in her eyes as her jaw hung slightly open in disbelief. For a moment the two just stared into each others eyes as they wondered how they both ended up in the situation they were in.

Sylveon broke the silence by jumping onto him, wrapping her forelegs around his neck and cloaked her streamers around his back and burying her head into his shoulder. Thomas was surprised by her action but as it occurred to him that she was just embracing him rather than trying to maim him, he reciprocated by putting his arms around her too. Thomas had no idea who this pokemon was, why she was here, and most of all why she cared at all what he was doing, but she made him feel something he hadn't felt in a while. Thomas felt happy. He noticed that he too was tearing up.

Thomas and the Sylveon stayed like that for a while. Neither had felt a warm, genuine hug from another entity in what had seemed like forever. They both had forgotten what it was like to be held by someone who cared, someone who wanted their well being. After what seemed to be a short, wonderful life time they let go and Thomas was the first to speak up.

"What made you want to help someone like me out?"

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she replied with different variations of syllables from her name as per usual poke-talk. Him not understanding anything she tried to reply he just assumed she wanted to help someone in need. Quickly it had also occurred to him that a Sylveon wasn't a typical Pokemon you'd see just roaming through the wild. Learning from his experience he then tried to ask a more reasonable question she could answer and him actually understand.

"Do you have an owner?"

Sylveon lowered her gaze a little and slowly shook her head at the question. Thomas wasn't sure what had happened to the poor vixen but saw that her thinking about the subject made her gloomy. He wondered what she had been through to end up here. She was probably wondering the same thing about him.

Thomas had never owned a Pokemon but now, looking down at the small creature that saved him from his own self inflicted demise, he was wondering if this is what he had been missing from his lonely life. After a second of consideration he decided to ask her probably one of the most important questions of her life.

"Would you like to come home with me?"

The Sylveon was taken back by the question at first but quickly jumped to him again, rubbing her face on him affectionately symbolizing an ecstatic "yes". Thomas had no idea what he was getting himself into but if someone was showing affection for him, he wanted to be part of that, even if that someone was just a little eeveelution.

Moments later, Thomas had got his little grey and yellow duffle bag with the empty water bottles in it and backtracked his way back to the trail, the excited Sylveon close by his side. With one extra person by his side instead of one less, Thomas started having new thoughts to occupy him on his way home. Never having a Pokemon before he started wondering what she would eat, where she would sleep and things like that. Seeing how he didn't bring his wallet with him on his journey he was going to have to make due with what he had at the house till tomorrow morning.

Looking down at his new furry friend he saw she started shivering in the cold weather of the on coming late evening. He asked if she wanted him to hold her and nodded semi-tiredly at him, allowing him to pick her up and hold her in a comfortable position. He held her close to try and warm her a little and soon felt her ribbons tenderly wrap around his arms. He hadn't known the Sylveon for maybe but a couple hours now but he could tell she was very fond of him. She soon fell asleep in his arms to let him finish his long thoughtful walk home.

Waking up, the Sylveon had found herself alone in a dark house on couch. Feeling like a glaceon, she got up shivering and decided to search around a bit. After a minute of exploring she came across a room with the door slightly ajar. Quietly pushing it open, she looked around inside. She couldn't see anything so she waiting a minute for her eyes to adjust. After her eyes decided to start cooperating with the dark she looked around again and this time she made out a bed. She saw her new master there and decided to check on him.

Jumping up on the bed as quietly as she could, she padded her way over to get a better look. He didn't cover himself up very well with the sheets and therefore looked even colder than she felt. Trying to adjust the sheets better for him without waking him proved frivolous so she decided to do the next best thing. She crawled under his arms to get as much of her body in contact with his to spread her body heat. To her surprise, she felt him softly hug her in response. Getting comfortable, she put her soft ribbons around him again before, she too, fell victim to the sand man.

Opening his eyes, Thomas saw the morning sun start to seep through his window. Disappointed in himself for instantly forgetting whatever he dreaming about last night he quickly found himself not caring about that anymore. Snuggled up right in front of him was his new adoring friend. She really didn't take any steps between getting comfortable with him because usually, the only thing he'd wake to hugging like this was his favorite pillow.

Typically at this point in the morning, Thomas would usually go right back to sleep till at least noon. He didn't have to worry about being late for a job because he was a self-employed artist. Right out of high-school he used his art skills to do two things, make people on the internet happy and pay the bills. Thomas had always been a decent artist and when he found he could make a livable amount of money from doing commissions for people, he decided that was what he wanted to do. Today was different though, for one, he had skipped out on a couple meals the day before and two, he also imagined that Sylveon was famished as well. He didn't want to be rude though so he waited for her to wake up before getting out of bed.

Minutes passed and soon the sleepy, cat-like Pokemon started to open her eyes. With a yawn she smiled and licked him on the nose as if to say "good morning" and started to purr. A couple minutes of affection later, Thomas finally convinced himself to roll out of bed and get a shower. After his cold shower, Thomas felt awake and ready to go into town. Since he didn't have any poke-food he decided to go into town and pick up some supplies.

Grabbing his backpack, keys and wallet, and with Sylveon at his heels the whole time, Thomas locked the door and started heading to town. He grabbed a bag with nothing in it so he could walk to the nearest poke-mart, buy some supplies and just put in on his back for the rest of his trip.

"Awww, what's her name?" The clerk asked as he entered the store.

A good question, indeed. He hadn't bothered to even think if she had a name or not. Telling the clerk he just got her yesterday and that she didn't have a name yet the clerk just nodded and asked if he needed any help with anything, probably not expecting him to actually need any. Unfortunately for the clerk, he needed a lot of help because he had no idea on what to get for her so after about twenty minutes of explaining and gathering supplies, the duo finally checked out and left heading to their next location.

Coming up at a fast food chain Thomas enjoyed, they entered the establishment and Thomas ordered. It being a nice day again, Thomas decided to eat outside on one the outdoor tables. After ordering and getting to his table, Thomas started pulling some stuff out of his bag that all his newly acquired supplies were in. He pulled out a dish, some poke-kibble and set it up on the table. He put it across from him so she could sit and eat with him. Most of the people around, eating breakfast, just had there Pokemon sit waiting next to them or just plain had them in their pokeballs so every once in a while he'd get a confused look from passers by but he didn't mind. He didn't see his new Sylveon as a pet or a thing but as an equal. She was helping him out probably more than he could ever help her. Sure he was still going to have to bathe her and do pet-like things but he wanted her to recognize that she was special to him.

"Did you have a name before finding me?" Thomas asked in between bites of his chicken biscuit.

Looking up from her bowl for a second she looked at him and shook her head, still chewing her food. Thomas had never been great at coming up with names for anything, like some of his art work he did in school and had to name when he was finished, so this was going to be tough, thinking of something she'd like. He tried thinking of things she did or that described her. He didn't want to use any names he already knew because he didn't want to associate her with anyone.

She had beautiful eyes like the azure sky. Pondering the word for a moment he decided he really liked that.

"How about Azure, like the color of the sky. Ya' think that'd be a good name?"

Her eyes instantly widened and she almost choked on her kibble when she heard the name. It was perfect. She thought that was a wonderful name. It was a good thing she like it too because he didn't think he could come up with anything better. The Sylveon, now known as Azure, was beyond excited. Now she had a place to call home and a name. Her previous owner didn't even bother with trying to name her.

Finishing their food rather quickly, they set out to go back home. Both knowing that everything was going to get better now that they had each other. Thomas also knew he had some commissions to catch up on and didn't want to dilly dally any longer because he knew it didn't take long before he was in over his head on work he needed to catch up. For once, everything in Thomas's life seemed to be going well.


	3. Getting to know each other

Chapter 3

Getting to know each other

* * *

Getting home, Thomas unlocked the door, letting Azure in and closing it behind him. It was weird for him to have a room mate now but he figured he'd get used to it soon enough. This was their first day together since he had gotten her and he didn't really know what to do. Would he play with her, tell her he needed to get some work done? He didn't know. Thomas decided he would show her what he does for a living and see what she thought of it.

Turning on the computer at his studio, the curious Sylveon watched intently to see what he was doing. After a minute the computer was booted up and ready for use. Thomas patted his lap indicating for Azure to sit up with him. She jumped up and positioned herself in fashion in which she could watch what he was doing comfortably. He opened up his painting program and told her what it was used for. Thomas had a nice monitor tablet, which he treated himself to when he figured just how much he'd be drawing with his computer. He figured if he was going to do this for a living he might as well have the best. He explained how his system worked and made a quick doodle for her as a demonstration and after she understood what he was doing he opened up a couple previous saves and showed him what he was capable of. Since he didn't have a specific thing he enjoyed drawing more than others he had a broad spectrum of different pictures, anything from beautiful landscapes to cartoons.

After seeing a wide variety of the things Thomas was capable of, the small feline was beyond impressed. Seeing just how impressed she was, Thomas asked her if she wanted to watch him draw for a while. She eagerly nodded and was interested in what he was going to work on next. Thomas checked his email for requests and clicked on the oldest one, which was only two days old. It was a character description the customer thought of and had some rough sketches attached to the email. He wanted his character in a fighting scene. It went on to explain that he didn't have to draw any enemies, just have a close up on his character in a fighting pose. "Piece of cake," Thomas thought. He emailed his client back, stated he has started working on his commission, and should be done relatively soon. And with that he opened the attached files, put them on his second monitor, and went to work.

Six or seven hours passed and Thomas was done. Azure was in awe at how he worked for that long with no breaks, not getting up to eat, or hardly moving at all. After he started, she didn't think she'd be able to watch for that long but after he put some music on and got in the zone, she hardly realized how much time had passed. Watching him send the email saying he was done, she realized she was rather hungry again. She jumped down and tapped him with a ribbon. When he looked down at her, she pointed at her open mouth with the same ribbon and as if on cue, her stomach started to rumble.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too." Thomas laughed as he got up. Thomas started walking towards the kitchen so she followed. Thomas told her to sit down at the table as he fixed them both something to eat. He fixed her bowl of kibble, made a sandwich for himself and set the food down on the table for them both. It was a modest table, not meant to seat that many people, so they sat pretty close to each other.

"Hey, Azure. I've always wondered, does Poke-kibble taste good to you? I know it's designed to be edible for Pokemon rather than humans and that's why it tastes bad to us but I always wondered how it tasted to you." Thinking about it, she decided it definitely didn't taste bad and since she actively took one bite after another it couldn't have been that bad. She shrugged a little and took another bite, indicating it was fine. Thomas wondered this because the clerk said human food could upset Pokemon stomachs and that to be safe he should stick to feeding them strictly food for them. Thomas just wanted to make sure she didn't hate what she was eating because he wanted her to be happy. After a bit more small talk the duo finished their meals. Thomas told Azure if she wanted to, she could go lie down while he washed the dishes.

As she started to walk out of the kitchen he spoke up again. "Azure?" She turned around and faced him. "Have you ever tried human food?" Thomas asked. She shook her head curiously at the question and started walking back over to him. At that he got a little piece of his sandwich meat from the package and motioned for her to try a piece. Thinking back at what he said she looked at him as if she was asking if he was sure this was a good idea. "It'll be fine," he chuckled and with that she took it out of his hand. This easily tasted way better than any kibble she had before and seeing how much she enjoyed it he got another slice and gave it to her. She happily carried it off and left Thomas to finish up in the kitchen.

Coming back to his room, Thomas saw Azure asleep on his bed. He decided, since he didn't have anything better to do, he would do some research. He got on his computer and casually browsed the internet for information about his newest companion. After a bit of research he found that it was rather unusual that his Sylveon was female, finding out that less than twenty percent are actually female. He also thought it was weird how eevees evolve into sylveons from being showed large amounts of love and compassion. Looking over at her, he wondered how she could've been showed enough love to transform into what she is just to be left out in woods.

Feeling bad for her, he put his computer to sleep and got in bed. As if by instinct, she slowly got up and padded over to him to lie down with him. After he turned the light off he kissed her forehead and told her everything was going to be fine. She licked his nose and snuggled into him and they both fell asleep in each others arms.

Thomas and Azure got up at about the same time now, they had gotten used to each others sleep pattern and basically got up on sync with one another. It had been about two weeks since they met and they were already close companions. He'd get up, go take a shower and Azure, being quick to not shy away from his side, decided she wanted to take a shower when he did. He thought it was a little strange at first but didn't mind. Standing up, the Sylveon came up a bit past his knee so, with the shower not being too small, it was relatively easy to wash her kneeling down. He'd wash himself and when he was done he would help wash Azure, they'd get out, dry off. Thomas would get some clothes on while Azure headed to the kitchen, they'd eat breakfast and from there they would decide what they wanted to do that day. Sometimes they'd walk around town, go to the park. When Thomas was working, she'd either sit in his chair with him and watch or just watch from the bed. She loved watching him draw and always tried to show how much she enjoyed it. Sometimes, on lazy days, they'd either go watch TV and just snuggle with each other or they'd watch funny internet videos. Either way, they were always happy in each others presence.

Today though, Azure was acting a bit down. She looked as though she didn't feel too good but Thomas thought nothing of it. After they had finished breakfast, When Azure tried to just down from her chair she just collapsed on the floor, passed out. Thomas had no idea what was wrong and began to start thinking the worst. After just a couple seconds of thinking up the worst possible scenarios, he was starting to freeze up but quickly scooped her up and rushed her to the nearest poke-center.

Not bothering to even lock his door, he went as fast as he could towards his destination, albeit rather slowly considering she wasn't exactly a tiny pokemon. It was different from when he was carrying her home the first time because he wasn't in a rush then, but now it was a little more challenging. Still involuntary thinking the worst, he began to tear up a little, thinking of what would happen if he lost her. Not even three weeks he had her and he thought he had already screwed everything up.

Arriving at the poke-center a nurse immediately came up to them and asked what was wrong. He told her everything he knew; they were finishing breakfast and she just passed out. She also asked why he didn't just carry her in her pokeball and he admitted to not actually capturing her properly in a pokeball as of yet. She thought this a was bit odd but seeing the distress on his face decided to go fix his pokemon. Thomas started to follow but the nurse insisted on him staying in the waiting room. Before she disappeared through the door she asked what her name was. "Azure," he replied. "Azure, what a pretty name," the nurse said as she walked through the door. After she left, Azure in hand, Thomas sat down and realized something; he hadn't ever felt as worried about anything than he did about Azure. He never gave too much thought to his family's well-being or really cared about what they wanted but he did with her. He wondered why he felt like this about a pokemon and not about the people he grew up with. After contemplating it for a while he figured it was because they never showed him as much love as Azure did.

After about an hour passed the nurse came out and told Thomas all the details of what was wrong. She had serious food poisoning and asked if he had any idea why. He admitted to her that he let her try some of his food every once in a while but had no idea it would hurt her. She told him if he wanted to give her any kind of human food he should just do a quick search on the internet to see what is and isn't good for her. "So tell me again why she doesn't have a pokeball," the nurse inquired. Thomas told her that he wasn't really into battling and that they had met while he was on a walk and they just became friends after that. She told him that he really needed to get her a pokeball. She told him all the benefits of it, and that she would even set it up for him. She asked if he needed help getting a pokeball financial wise in the most polite way she could muster to which he said he would be able to get one just fine. After that she told him it would be about another hour or so before he could see his pokemon again and that if he wanted to walk to get a pokeball from the nearby mart he could. He thanked the nurse for her help and decided walking would help clear his mind.

The poke-mart wasn't too far away so Thomas decided to take his time walking there. It was a little bit too chilly and gloomy looking outside for his liking but reflecting on how his morning has gone thus far decided it was fitting. He didn't exactly have enough time to grab a jacket on his way out so he just had to curl his arms and deal with the cold. Luckily he thought far enough ahead to decide he should grab his wallet before he left.

Arriving at the store he asked the clerk what the best pokeball available was and showed him the luxury ball. It was pretty pricey but considering how Thomas wasn't exactly poor he didn't give it much thought before making his purchase.

Entering back at the poke-center the nurse asked what kind of ball he bought. She looked surprised when he pulled out the luxury ball. She probably thought, by the way he dressed, that he wasn't too good off. Thomas didn't exactly look like the sort of guy to have a whole lot of money, but since he hardly ever bought things other than food and paying bills he had a lot of extra spending money.

Motioning for him to follow, the two made their way to where Azure was. The nurse asked if he wanted to be the one to use the ball or if he wanted her to do it for him, Thomas had never used a pokeball before and already wasn't feeling too confident in himself so he said it would be alright if she did it.

Opening her eyes, Azure saw her master standing next to her. She noticed they weren't in their house anymore and there was a familiar looking woman behind Thomas. Thomas leaned over and softly pet her as he began to ask something. "I don't know if you have anything against pokeballs, but the nice nurse here says that it would be very good if you were to have one. Would you mind if we set this up for you?" Azure never disliked being in her pokeball before so she didn't protest against it. She nodded her head and Thomas handed the nurse the ball. In an instant she was absorbed in a pinkish light and then was inside the pokeball.

The nurse showed how the pokeball can shrink down to fit better in his pocket or on a belt. After that gave him some medication that the pokemon would have to take for the next week. With that she said he and his pokemon were free to go.

After they left the building Thomas took out his pokeball, restored it to normal size, and let Azure out. Putting the now empty ball in his pocket he asked Azure how she was feeling. Reluctantly at first, she looked up at him and said, "Aside from a slight stomach ache, I feel fine." "That's good, I was worried tha-," Thomas stopped mid sentence. He stopped and looked down at her. "Did you just talk?" Thomas asked, a bit confused. Azure thought she had just made a huge mistake and barely stammered "Y-yes, is that a p-problem?" Thomas saw that she thought she was in trouble and knelt down beside her. "No, it's not a problem, you just haven't spoke the whole time you've been with me so I guess I assumed you just spoke like a normal pokemon." Azure said she'd explain everything once they got back to the house.

The rest of the way home they just took in the sights of the familiar town and didn't say anything. Thomas enjoyed holding one of her ribbons while they walked, as if holding someone's hand, and guessed she liked it too because of how she seemed to always try to hold his hand too. The weather warmed up a bit from earlier, now being the middle of the afternoon, so the walk home was comfortable. Everything seemed to be right in the world again.


	4. Taking a break

Chapter 4

(name pending)

After the short, silent walk home, Thomas opened the door for Azure and made his way towards the couch. Azure close behind, followed and jumped up on the couch with him. A minute or so passed then Thomas asked his question. "Why did you wait so long to tell me you could talk, Azure?" Getting her thoughts sorted, she began to tell him everything.

"Back when I was just an eevee, my previous trainer wanted me to evolve into an umbreon, so he showed me the most compassion out of all his pokemon to make sure it would happen. When I had eventually gotten to the point where I evolved I had loved my trainer so much up till that point. When the glow died down, it turned out I had actually evolved into a Sylveon instead. After I evolved, my trainer became furious and immediately called me back to my pokeball. Before I was fully aware of what had happened I found myself in the woods. When I woke up by myself I tried to call for help and that's when I realized that along with evolving I also gained the ability to speak human. After a couple of days I stumbled across you and.. now we're here."

"Why would anyone do that to a pokemon, just because you accidently evolved into something other than what he wanted doesn't give him the right to just throw you away," Thomas said feeling sorry for what she had to go through. "But that still doesn't answer my question." Thomas added.

"After seeing how one person reacted to the new me made me think that I was something that shouldn't be loved, so when I met you I didn't want you to also hate me but after seeing how you treat me I saw that I could be comfortable around you. And at this point I'm glad he let me go, if he hadn't, I'd have never found you." The Sylveon answered.

"Azure, I don't ever want you to feel like you're not good enough. It's me that doesn't deserve someone as special as you." Thomas said as he grabbed her in an embrace for the second time. When they were finished hugging and feeling sorry for each other, they got up and headed back to the studio so Thomas could work some more.

"Want to take a little break, Zury?" Thomas asked after he had drawn for a couple hours. "Zury, huh? Already coming up with pet names, are we?" Azure poked as they laughed and got up to get a drink. As they got back and Thomas starting back up on his work, she started to think about Thomas. They had become so close now, he had a nickname for her and they even slept together every night. Thomas had shown her way more love than her previous trainer ever had and he actually meant it. He loved her for who she was, not what he wanted her to be.

Being the middle of the winter season, Thomas had told his family he would visit for the Holidays. This would've been fine if the majority of his family didn't absolutely despise pokemon. Thomas never knew why but his family didn't like the idea of pokemon. Maybe this was why he hadn't become a trainer, because they implanted in his head that all pokemon were bad. He knew he could never bring Azure around them, especially with the way he felt about her.

With Azure having her ribbons, she could function well enough around the house by herself. She could feed herself and do whatever else she needed so when Thomas explained the situation to her she fully understood. Although being a bit bummed out, she told him she'd be fine by herself for a week. Before Thomas left, he made sure she had full access to anything she needed. If she wanted to, she could go down to the store and buy stuff for herself incase something happened. So after making sure Azure was one hundred percent ok being by herself for a while, Thomas packed enough clothes for a week, called a cab, and made his way to the airport.

Azure knew she was fully capable of being by herself at home alone, but she never took into account the actual being alone part. It was much different when Thomas wasn't around. Everything seemed quiet and still, even though Thomas never was really loud or energetic. Typically Thomas was her main source of entertainment, so with him being gone she didn't quite know what to do. After wandering around the house for a little bit she jumped up on the couch and turned on the TV. She remember how to do that from watching Thomas so much.

As much as she tried to pay attention to the TV, Azure kept finding herself thinking about Thomas. She couldn't get him out of her mind. She knew she loved him as her master but she kept thinking about things a typical pokemon/human relationship wouldn't have. She loved his scent, the way he held her, how open he was with her. Most of all, she couldn't wait till he came home.

Looking at the clock she noticed it was getting late. She turned off the TV with a yawn and sleepily padded her way to their room. Jumping up on the bed, she lied down where she would usually sleep and found herself burying her head in one of the pillows to fall asleep to his scent. For the most part, this worked relatively well and she eventually drifted off.

She got up like normal, took a shower, although it was a little difficult with Thomas not there, and went to make herself breakfast. After that she'd try to find something to do to keep herself busy until it was lunch time. After lunch, she'd go back to keeping herself busy till dinner. After dinner she decided she didn't want to fight boredom anymore and just headed straight to bed. She went on like this for the next couple days and found that at the end of the day the only thing she really wanted was Thomas to come back. He made everything around the house more happy and lively even if he didn't always seem very active or upbeat. Thomas was one of those people that never really expressed himself very emotionally, but Azure knew that behind his seemingly monotone expression he was happy and that everything was ok, and this is what made her happy.

After what seemed like had already been forever, but in reality was only about three days, and the vixen being left by herself, she found herself going to bed and crying herself to sleep. At first she didn't know why she was crying but soon realized she had done nothing but think about her master ever since he left. She knew he'd be back in two more days but still she missed him immensly. She was begining to feel like Thomas was more than just her master. She remembered how he always tried to treat her more like an equal rather than a pet and was begining to think that maybe he had stronger feeling for her as well. This gave her enough comfort in mind to help aid her to go to sleep for the next couple nights.

A week had passed and Thomas was beyond ready to go home. It was actually only five days but it had felt like an eternity. Thomas was thoroughly reminded why he moved so far away from his family and was more than happy to go home. Although the trip wasn't completely terrible and almost even enjoying himself, he found himself thinking of Azure a lot more than he thought he would. When he'd go to sleep at night he'd hug a pillow to try and replicate sleeping with her but it never really worked out all that great. Even when he was talking and catching up with his family he couldn't stop thinking of her. It was hard for him to restrain from telling his whole family about his new pokemon that might as well have been his girlfriend for the last couple weeks but he knew they'd all think even less of him if he did. With all that behind him now, he was just hours away from seeing her again.

Being in the taxi for about thirty minutes now and knowing he was almost home gave Thomas buttereflies in his stomach. It was a strange feeling for him because, with his personality type, he didn't get excited about much. Thinking about that, he wondered if he had more feelings for Azure than he originally imagined. How could he have feelings for something he was always told was bad growing up? He thought it was a little strange at first but seeing as she could talk and act like a regular person he began thinking it made a bit more sense.

Azure, hearing the vehicle pull into the driveway, ran out of the kitchen to the door. By the time she reached the door he was already entering. After he closed the door with his suitcase inside he turned around to see Azure. She was so over-joyed that she basically tackled him to the ground and began embracing him with her soft, flowing ribbons and covered his face in soft sylveon kisses. In her excitement, she accidently landed a kiss right on his mouth and as soon as she realized what she had done slowly backed down, blushing under her furry face.

Thomas didn't know what to think and was surprized by what she did but when he noticed her embarrassment and her finally calming down, he had a chance to reciprocate her embrace. "You have no idea how much I've missed you, Zury," he said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Oh I think I do," she replied resting her head on his shoulder and having his shirt soak up her tears. After they got most of their affection out of their systems, Azure finally let him get up to take his stuff to his room.

When he came back out he noticed the house smelled like dinner was already cooked. When he looked at the dining room table he saw that Azure had fixed dinner already. Although it was something simple, like what he would make, he was still greatly impressed that she would go through the trouble to make dinner for them.

After exchanging stories of what each of them did while he was away over dinner and finishing their meal, Thomas told Azure to head to bed, as it was already late, and that he'd give her a surprize when he was done with the dishes. Azure headed to their room and wondered what the surprize might be. Did he get something for her while he was away? She Honestly had no idea what he had in store for her.

After Thomas had finished with the dishes, he came back and got his pajamas on, which consisted of just a grey pair of boxer breifs, and got into bed like normal. He turned out the lights and snuggled up next to her like he usually did. Azure was completely confused at this point and thought he might have forgotten, but just as she was about to ask him what the surprize was, she felt his mouth cover hers in a passionate kiss in the pitch blackness.


	5. New-found love

Chapter 5

Thoroughly explored each others lips, they break away after a minute. "I hope that wasn't too weird, I've never done that before.", Thomas says somewhat sheepishly. "I didn't even know I could do that having a muzzle.", Azure responds. "I'd wanted to try it, though, ever since I saw that that's how humans express their feeling for each other.", She continued. "You.. had feelings for me?", he asks to which she responds, "Ever since you left I saw that I felt more feeling for you than just a simple pokemon and trainer relationship. I was worried that the feelings weren't mutual but..", she trailed off. "But I ended up feeling the same thing..", Thomas continued.

"I don't know if it's wrong of us to feel this way for each other but I can't help it. You treat me better than anyone's ever treated me so I naturally became more attracted to you." Azure went on. "Nothing says a trainer can't love his pokemon this way but people don't exactly think of it as normal and some people even think it shouldn't be permitted." Thomas says. "Some people think it's too taboo and that pokemon don't think or feel like people do, like you're just dumb animals.", he adds. "But I don't care what people think, you've been better to me than any human ever has and I think more of you than I do most people I know. So if you want us to be together this way, we can be". Azure makes a quiet happy sounding high-pitched noise and leans in for another kiss.

After exploring the insides of each others mouths they were again tired and snuggled back into each other to go to sleep. However, instead of them just lying close to each other they decided get even closer. Their legs intertwined and Azure put her forelegs around his neck. She also wrapped him in her ribbons and he put his arms around her. One hand on her upper back and the other on her flank.

Thomas wakes up in the middle of the night and finds that Azure is not with him. He looks at his phone which reads 3:46am. A little worried, he got up to see where she was. To his relief, she was just in the bathroom. He quietly knocked on the door to make sure she was alright and wasn't throwing up or anything. He hears a little squeal and a second later she said she was fine. Not thinking much of it and not wanting to argue, he shrugged it off and went back to bed. He couldn't get to sleep and thought that maybe the reason he woke up in the first place was because Azure got up and wasn't with him. About ten minutes later Azure finally returned to him and they got back into their forward facing spooning position and quickly went back to sleep.

Azure, waking up first again a little later, is happy to see that their in the same position as when they went to sleep. She then notices Thomas through his boxers and begins to blush to herself as he begins to grind against her leg as wakes up too. Thomas also notices what was happening and sheepishly backs up a little before kissing Azure good morning. They get up and head to the kitchen to have breakfast and discuss the day's agenda. Thomas always enjoyed being his own boss and getting to choose what he wanted to do everyday and it was a lot more interesting with Azure around. They eventually decided that they would go for a walk for the day. Thomas got a little pack and put some snacks and drinks into it. He also checked the weather to make sure it would be a good day to go for a walk. There was only a ten percent chance of rain and he was feeling pretty lucky. He grabbed a coat just in case though and they headed out the door.

As they started walking Azure held Thomas's hand with one of her ribbons. Thomas thought it was beyond adorable and liked the way her ribbons felt. After walking for a couple of minutes Thomas speaks up. "How do you feel about battling.", he questioned. "What do you mean?"."I mean, did you like battling other pokemon? Do you miss it or anything like that?", he said, being a little more specific. "I didn't hate it,", replied the sylveon, "but I wouldn't complain if I didn't have to do it again."

"I was just wondering because I didn't want you to battle if you didn't like it but I also didn't want to keep you from doing something you might've enjoyed". "I'm ok if you don't want to battle me. I think I'm done with that now." "Also, what do you think about our relationship? People see pokemon as not being able to be with people, so do some pokemon not see us being able to be with them?" Thomas asks. "I've never really thought about it before and I've never had another pokemons opinion on it but I see it as ok if that tells you anything." Azure replies. "I don't know, I was just curious as to if pokemon had biases like humans do."

The two continue their walk onto a popular trail near the town and eventually come to a nice spot to have their small lunch. After they finish eating, Azure in a playful mood, pounces on Thomas. They play wrestle for a minute and Azure ends up pinning him down. Thomas didn't expect this because he was a little bit bigger than she was but forgot just how powerful pokemon really are.

Azure looks deep into his eyes and he looks back up into hers as she slowly leans down and kisses him again. She lets off his arms so he can wrap them around her. They stay like this for a while until Azure feels a cold raindrop on her back. They notice that clouds must have rolled in while they were eating lunch and playing. They pack up their stuff and start to head back. Thomas notices how cold the rain is and picks Azure up and cloaks her in his jacket. Azure loves how selfless Thomas is towards her and winds her ribbons around him to help him hold her up. He appreciates the gesture and holds her close.

It starts to thunder and the rain picks up quite a bit. Why Thomas trusted his luck, he has no idea. He always got the short end of the stick when it came to taking chances, just like the rest of his family. It's almost like his family was cursed to always have bad luck. It didn't show as much for Thomas as he barely considered himself part of his family but every once in a while it would show. Thomas noticed that Azure was definitely not enjoying the thunder and decided to hurry the rest of the way home. He was already pretty close so he jogged the rest of the way back.

By the time they got back they were completely soaked. Thomas, with the vixen in hand, went directly to the bathroom to dry them off. Getting to the bathroom he stripped out of everything to dry himself and Azure couldn't help but stare. After drying himself he immediately went to work on his sylveon and after deciding he did a good enough job on the two of them, he put his clothes in the dryer and put on some thin pajama's to where around the house for the rest of the evening. He got a warm, thick blanket and headed to the couch. Azure jumped up beside him but instead of just snuggling next to him to get warm she gently pushed him down on the couch with the blanket covering them and she repeated what she did the first night she was there. lying down on top of him, she tried to cover as much of his body with herself to warm the two of them up. Eventually they were sufficiently warm again and now where just lying on the couch enjoying each others presence. Thomas was enjoying the ambient sounds of the storm and, at the same time, was making sure Azure didn't freak out too much because of it. Thomas asked why she was scared of the storm. She didn't know, she knew the thunder and lightning wouldn't hurt her but she was scared of it none the less.

Enjoying everything that was going on, Thomas decided to lean in and go for another smooch but just as he was about to he heard a faint knock on the door. Azure reacted to it too, so he knew it wasn't just him that heard it. It was weird for Azure because in all the time she's been there, there had been no visitors, and all the time that Thomas has been there the closest thing to a visitor that he's had was the post office delivering packages he ordered. Most of the time he just waited for them to leave them by the door so he didn't have to sign for it.

Reluctantly, Thomas gets up, leaving his Azure bundled in their blanket, to go answer the door. He opens the door to find nobody or anything there at all. He thought maybe it was the wind but as he was about to shut door he looked down to see a cold and soaked braixen looking up at him. Thomas had no idea where the small fox type came from but it didn't look like it was here to hurt him so he asks, "Do you want to come in?"

The small braixen slowly made its way in, looking very cautious and shivering like she was about to pass out from the cold. After the door was shut behind the shivering creature, she walked forward and hugged Thomas's leg. It was a little awkward for Thomas though as her face was very close to his crotch and he was wearing his thin pajamas. He offered to go dry the braixen off. She looked up at him expectantly and then was lead to bathroom to get the same treatment he gave himself and Azure earlier. Upon him already being warm and dry, he was able to be a little more thorough with the braixen and upon drying it off accidentally found the gender of it too. The braixen was female which might have explained the more friendly approach when she entered his house. Although, Thomas wasn't actually sure if that kind of behavior was more apparent in one gender rather than the other.

After she was dried and a little less cold, Thomas brought her into the living room. Azure was still oblivious as to what was going on until she was the foreign pokemon enter the room behind her new-found lover. Azure had no idea who this little fire type was so she felt like she needed to be a little more safeguarding. Thomas made her share the blanket with her though and then asked if she could translate for her. Azure still wasn't sure about her but she could translate and told him she could.

Thomas was curious as to how she ended up on their front step and she told him that she saw them walking though the trail and decided to see what they were up to. She said she was surprised at how a trainer was treating his pokemon more like a mate than just some kind of pet or something. She had never seen anyone show their pokemon that much affection before and that all the pokemon she had ever been with left her. She decided that maybe this human, being Thomas, would be able to show her some kind of love so she followed him back. She said she wasn't one hundred percent sure about just approaching him so she stayed back a bit to not get noticed and then when they entered the house she wasn't sure what to do so she just stayed out in the rain until she built up enough courage to knock on the door.

Thomas felt so bad for the braixen and even Azure began to feel bad for her. After Thomas started to hug her Azure decided that she wasn't here to hurt anyone and joined the embrace as well. Thomas told her that he didn't use his pokemon to battle and instead treated them more like room mates. The braixen was completely fine with this as long as she was given a fraction of the amount of affection that he gave to azure.

Noticing that it was getting late again, Thomas went to the kitchen and told Azure to show her around whilst he made a quick dinner. Azure took her by the paw with one of her ribbons and gestured for her to follow. The house wasn't huge, two rooms, one bath, and a couple of closets here and there. She showed her the first room, which was the art studio. She told her that Thomas was an artist and did all his work in there. She joked that he was a little lazy though, because when she arrived there all his art supplies were haphazardly put together in his room and she had to almost force him to set it up correctly in this room. He had the room set up to be the studio anyway but when he moved in and had all the stuff in his room, he never moved it.

Which brought them to the next room; their room. She explained that this is where they slept and where Thomas got dressed. Aside from the bed, there wasn't anything too interesting about the room. The Braixen explained that this house was much nice than any den she found or anything like that. After their small conversation in his room she showed her the bathroom and explained that this is where they cleaned them selves and did their business. The braixen was somewhat confused as to how they cleaned themselves in there so Azure quickly turned on the water in the shower. The braixen had never seen anything like this before and was probably a little more amazed by a shower than she should have been. Azure explained the rest of the bathrooms functionality and lead her to kitchen where Thomas was.

By the time they were done and returned to the kitchen their dinner was already made. It was just something quick because it was pretty late and Thomas didn't feel like trying to make anything too complicated.

The braixen was a little confused by the table at first but after Azure explained to her how it worked, she climbed up and made herself comfy. The three ate their dinner and had a little conversation while they ate but they were all exhausted. After they finished Azure headed to their room and Thomas made a place for her on the couch to sleep with the blanket they were using earlier.

Tucking her in and making sure she was comfortable, Thomas headed back to his room to go to bed. He stripped out of his pajamas so he was only in his boxers and crawled in bed with Azure. The two got comfy with each other and Azure almost instantly fell asleep. Thomas couldn't fall asleep as fast for some reason so he just lied there holding his inter-species love. About ten minutes pass and he starts to develop a small headache. At first it was very mild but gradually got worse and worse. It got to the point where it was almost excruciating but just as he was about to get up and to take something for it, it stopped. He thought it was odd how abruptly it had stopped. Completely worn out now, he began to fall asleep but just as he lost consciousness he heard a voice echo in his head. The voice was asking if it had worked. But just as he could make sense of it, he fell unconscious.


	6. A new companion

Chapter 6

Thomas awoke like usual, kissed Azure, got up to take a shower and put on some casual clothes to wear around the house. As he walked into the living room he had almost completely forgot about the sleeping Braixen lying on the couch, which also reminded him of the strange thing that happened the night prior. She looked as though she hadn't been as comfortable in her entire life as she was right there so he decided not to wake her. He proceeded to the kitchen to get some breakfast going.

Soon enough, everyone was awake to the strong smell of bacon and decided they could sleep in some other time. Thomas chuckled at the sight of his sleepy pokemon anticipating their food. He told them that it'd be ready pretty soon and that they could go wait in the TV room. Instead of eating at the dining table, Thomas decided they could just eat sitting on the couch to talk to the newest addition to the house hold.

Soon enough he had brought out everyone's food. Azure looked almost comical the way she stared down her plate but then it occurred to her to ask if it was actually safe for her. "Turns out most brands put a notice on the back of packages that says whether something is safe for pokemon consumption," Thomas said in between bites. "I never thought to check the back because I never had a pokemon before you, so I guess I never noticed." The small fire type was confused about their banter so Azure explained to her what happened previously.

"I did not "break down down and cry" at poke-center," Thomas protested. "Ok maybe it wasn't That dramatic but he was still pretty emotional about the whole ordeal," Azure poked back. "And all because I had a little stomach ache," she continued. "Yeah, a stomach ache that made you pass out jumping out of a chair." The Braixen was still amazed at how this human and pokemon interacted with each other. Everything she saw and knew growing up told her that humans where to be avoided. She was told they kept pokemon like animals when they weren't trying to battle them. And for the most part that was true for the rest of the world but she had never seen this sort of interaction before.

Pretty soon they had finished their breakfast and were just conversing on the couch now. "So before I fell asleep last night, the strangest thing happened. I started to develop the worst migraine and it stopped almost as quick as it started," Thomas said. "Weird," Azure put in. "But that isn't even the weirdest part, before I fell asleep it was almost like there was another voice in my head." That's when Thomas noticed the braixen shuffle kind of nervously. She said something but Thomas had to look to Azure to translate. "She says that was her trying to form a mental link between the two of you, but she had no idea it would be so painful on your end," the sylveon translated. "She says she's beyond sorry for any pain it caused." Thomas was deeply confused by this, he didn't know whether to be scared or angry. He typically wasn't very temperamental so he simply asked, "What is a mental link?"

Just as he asked the question he felt the echo in his head again, it wasn't really words but more of emotions. The braixen saw that he was still completely confused and explained to Azure that she can emote and sometimes talk to him telepathically now, which she relayed over to Thomas. She also went on to explain how she can also sort of read his mind in that same sense, picking up on emotions and sometimes sentences. Now understanding what had happened, Thomas brought up another question; why. "I thought with you being my new master you'd want to have that special link with me."

It didn't even dawn on him that she wanted to live there with him. Not even more than a couple months with Azure and somehow he's managed to capture another pokemon. At this rate I'll have a full team by the end of the year without batting a single pokemon, Thomas thought to himself. He started to feel the worry and doubt projected from the the fire type. Thomas realized that he might not have properly made known that he did indeed accept her.

"You do want to be my master, don't you?" He heard in his head. "Of course I do," Thomas said as he went to hug the small fox. Azure was a little confused but quickly remembered that they could communicate telepathically now. She didn't know how she was going to feel about this. Sure she could actually talk to him but how could she compete with telepathy.

Sufficiently informed, Thomas got up and brought the dishes to the sink. He wasn't sure if he would easily get used to the whole telepathy thing but thought it was pretty neat nonetheless. Although he probably didn't realize the small fallout he might have just caused.

As Thomas got up and left for the kitchen, Azure wasn't sure how to feel. Just like that, within a couple minutes, there was a new member to what she thought was going to be just the two of them. She felt almost a little betrayed at how easily he just accepted her. This braixen didn't do anything to gain his trust like she did. But at the same time, is it really wrong for him to have another pokemon, plenty of people have way more than he has. She was conflicted at the thought but before she could think further on it, Thomas came back out of the kitchen.

"So I guess if you're going to be staying around for a while you should probably have a name," Thomas said, "That is, of course, if you don't already." The Braixen shook her head at the statement. "Well do you have anything in mind?" he went on to which he got another head shake. Great, Thomas thought to himself referring to his amazing gift for naming things. The small braixen picked up on his train of thought and giggled a little to herself. "Lets see, you came out of nowhere, mostly yellow, really cute.." Thomas went on trying to ponder a good title. "Daisy?" Thomas inquired. "Eh, those are more white than yellow." Azure interjected. Giving up on his own ability to come up with something he pulled out his phone. Sticking with the color name scheme, he looked up a list of different shades of yellow. "How about, um, Amber?"

Thomas instantly knew that was it from the excitement he felt broadcasted to him. He was beginning to wonder whether she did that intentionally but got side tracked from the thought as the braixen basically pounced on him in her excitement. "Well, now that we've established that you're gonna be staying a while and now have a name, we might as well go make this official," said Thomas. The newest addition, now known as Amber, not quite knowing what he meant conveyed her confusion to him to which he responded, "We've got to go get you a poke-ball." Still confused she looked to Azure in which she said in her own poke-speech, "It's a device that he'll trap you inside to let other people know that he owns you." Seeing how that made her a bit uncomfortable Thomas gave Azure a little glare even though he wasn't completely sure what she told her.

"I'm going to put inside a poke-ball for a little bit so that we'll have it in case something happens to you, I'll let you out as soon as it accepts you. I don't like to keep Azure in her poke-ball so I won't keep you in yours." Thomas explained, hopefully easing her of whatever Azure told her. For the most part it worked but she was still a little nervous about it. And with that Thomas grabbed his small backpack and wallet and headed out the door.

To break the silence of them walking, Thomas spoke up, "First thing's first, we're going to go to the poke-mart to buy the ball, then I'll take you to poke-center to make sure everything is alright with you." Amber was a bit confused about the whole poke-center thing to which Thomas assured she doesn't have anything to worry about.

Soon enough, they arrived at the mart and picked up another luxury ball. As soon as they got outside he explained to Amber what he was doing and, seconds later, she was absorbed into the small orb. As soon as it clicked shut he let her out. "See it wasn't that bad," Thomas said as he ruffled the top of her head. She smiled a little and just nuzzled into his hand as they started their walk to the next point in their destination.

"Hello Miss Azure, how are you feeling?" The nurse asked as they walked through the front door. "Pretty good," She replied. "And who is this, Mr. Greene, I thought you didn't battle pokemon?" the nurse asked in a joking manner. "This is Amber, she just stumbled up on our door step last night and decided she wanted to stay with us," Thomas replied. The nurse looked back down at the fire-type who was now hiding behind Thomas's leg. The nurse giggled and asked how she could help them. "I just wanted to have a checkup done, I'm pretty sure she's fine but I just want to make sure she's ok." "Would you like me to check up on your Sylveon as well?" The nurse asked to which he agreed upon. Thomas motioned for them to follow her. Amber, a bit reluctant, agreed and followed behind Azure holding one of her streamers.

Thomas forgot that he'd probably be waiting for about an hour before they were both released back to him. So he got comfortable in one of chairs and pulled out his phone. And with the amazing, unending amount of luck noticed his phone was only on fifteen percent. Great.

Soon enough they walked out with the nurse behind them. "Everything go smoothly?" Thomas asked as he approached. "Everything looks as normal as it can be, but could you bring them for a checkup every month or so?" The nurse asked. "Sure, any specific reason why?" "It's just good to have checkups relatively often," The nurse quickly answered. "Alright, well thanks for your time, guess I'll see you in a month or so." Thomas said as he started walking out. "Have a nice day, you too Azure and Amber," She waved them off as they exited.

"So it's not quite lunch time but if you can think of something to do while we're in town long enough we can get something to eat." Thomas said as he picked Amber up to put her on his shoulders, after that he held one of Azure's ribbons as they started walking. And soon enough they decided to just go window shopping for a couple hours until it they were hungry enough to justify getting lunch. After not really finding anything too interesting from shopping and having a good meal they decided to go home.

Arriving home Thomas decided to get some work done and left his girls to do whatever. Amber being new and curious as to what he does, since he doesn't battle, got the same treatment Azure got when she first wanted to know what he did for a living. Being just as intrigued decided she'd take a seat on futon Thomas had ordered for the studio room so Azure could watch him.

A couple hours later he had finished and went out to get something to drink. "You know, while I was drawing I was thinking about how I hardly ever get out. I mean, we went on walks before Amber got here but other than that we don't do much." Thomas said aloud, more just talking to himself than anything. "Well, what's there to do?" Azure asked. Thomas, not really expecting an answer, looked down at her and thought about it. "Well we could go camping or something." Thomas replied. Amber started to say something so Thomas looked to his now dedicated translator. "She says; Do we have to do that right now? I kind of enjoy not having to sleep on the ground." Thomas, laughed a little and said, "It won't be that bad, we could get some sleeping bags and just all cuddle up. It'll be great, trust me."

Thomas made dinner and after they ate got ready for bed. He noticed Amber getting comfortable on the couch and told her to come to their room. "If you want, you can sleep in here with us." Thomas said. She looked around a little flustered. Thomas chuckled and gently picked her up and placed her on the bed. Instead of embracing just his fluffy Sylveon, Thomas lied down on his back with Azure in one arm his newest companion in his other. Amber just snuggled into his side while Azure tried to wrap him in her ribbons as best she could. And with that they went to sleep.


	7. The journey

_2000 years_ later.. anyway

* * *

Chapter 7

Thomas awakes to the subtle chirps of the local Starly beginning their morning singing. He notices it's pretty early as the sun has barely began it's ascension. Only the tips of light rays could be seen emitting over the distant Sinnoh mountain range from his window. It was late winter so Thomas decided to stay still and appreciate his pokemon's warmth. This is when he noticed that sometime during the night he rolled over in favor of considerably warmer fire-type. Azure was cuddled up as best she could to his back. This made Thomas feel a little sorry for Azure.

After multiple minutes, Thomas decides to get up as he can't fall back asleep. As cautiously as he tried, he still managed to wake both Azure and Amber in the process of him getting out of bed. After apologizing, he told them they could go back to sleep. They responded with a yawn and almost immediately passed out, snuggling into each other. After seeing this Thomas chuckled lightly then left for his studio.

If they were going to go camping Thomas needed to make sure he wasn't backlogged with any work. Typically work died down a little after the holiday season so he only had a couple quick things to do before he was set.

While he was finishing up his last little project he felt a little tap on his shoulder. Since Thomas had his headphones on and didn't notice his pokemon walk in so this startled him enough to make him jump. Taking off one of the headphone sides, he looked to see who it was. A tired looking Braixen looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, Good morning," Thomas said as he picked her up to hug her in his lap. Thomas was still a little chilly and saw the opportunity for a some warmth.

Amber picked up on his thought, she conveyed a little happy feeling as he stuffed his face in her shoulder tuft. Her fur was still dense and feathery from it growing for the winter. After a second he lifted his head from her shoulder and looked into her eyes and smiled. She began to blush a little but before Thomas could notice he gently adjusted her so that he could keep working on his project with her in his lap. Amber couldn't help but cuddle into him as he finished his work.

Sooner than she would've liked, Thomas completed the last of his work and got up from his station, gently placing her on the ground. "How about we go check on Azure and get some breakfast going?" Thomas said as he started to exit the room. She followed him out as he started heading towards the bedroom. Azure was still fast asleep on the bed but looked a little cold with most of the covers not actually covering her anymore. Thomas walked over and carefully picked her up and started to cradle her. She slowly opened her eyes to the sudden change and was greeted by Thomas smiling down on her. After a long, drawn out yawn she said, "Why are you holding me?"

Thomas whispered to her, "so I could test out your reaction time," and before she registered what he said he let go. As she was very agile, she immediately turned over and landed semi-gracefully on the ground. "Dick," she said, playfully punching him with one of her streamers. "That's what you get for waking up last," Thomas laughed, roughing up the fur on her head.

After a quick breakfast, they headed out into town to hunt down some camping supplies. It was still pretty chilly with snow storms still frequenting the area so Thomas once again decided to hold onto his fire-type whilst they walked. Azure took notice and asked why he was carrying her around. "Because she's really fluffy and warm," He replied as he stuck his head in her chest tuft for a moment, causing the small fairy type to chuckle a little bit. "Fair enough," she said as they continued their journey. Although, after he did this he sensed some bashfulness coming from his fox. He wasn't quite sure what that was about.

Some time later, after collecting various wilderness survival gear around town and generally having a good time together, they decided to head out of town for a little while. They made sure to pick a trail that was less traveled by trainers as to not accidentally come across someone looking to battle.

After about a half-day's travel, Thomas decided to settle down at what looked like a snowed over public camp ground. The area must have gotten a little more snow than the area where they lived.

"Amber, you mind using a weak flamethower on the area to clear it out a little?", Thomas asked. She was more than happy to comply. She pulled her stick from her tail and began to cover the small camp in a small blanket of fire, melting and eventually evaporating any moisture from the area. Thomas was intrigued by her seemingly masterful ability to shoot flames, even though it was a pretty typical move, and dampened at that. Once again, Azure noticed Thomas' staring. "See something you like?", questioned the Sylveon. Thomas shook his head away to look at her. "I think her form could use some work but she, herself, is quite beautiful," he said sounding as sarcastic as possible.

"Oh, what do you know about 'form'?" She said turning away, sounding a little annoyed. Thomas walked over and picked her up once again and brought her into a hug. "Aww, is someone a little jealous?" After a moment of her squirming and pleading to be put down, Azure finally settled down and embraced him back. "Ok, maybe I am a little jealous," she said reluctantly. "I just thought with us being together.. I thought it would _only_ be us."

Up until that point, Thomas hadn't even realized it but he was starting to develop feelings for Amber just like when he met Azure. He slowly set her down and started to walk. Azure was confused by this and started to follow him. Amber stopped to look at them once she felt a strong change in Thomas' emotion. She slowly walked over to Azure and asked what was going on. She almost got mad at her but then remembered it wasn't her fault. "You know that me and Thomas are together, don't you?" Azure asked. "Of course, that's one of the reasons I followed you guys to your house. What does that have to do with anything?" She replied with a sense of genuineness. "I don't know for sure, but I think he's starting to gain feelings for you as well."

Amber didn't know what to say. She had started to like him but she didn't want to interfere with Azure. "I'm sorry," she quietly managed to stammer. She went on to explain that she just wanted to be with someone who wouldn't try to hurt her and would give her a good home. As much as Azure wanted to be mad at her, she knew she couldn't be. Although Azure grew up with a trainer that ended up betraying her, she never had to forage and struggle to survive like Amber did. She brought the confused fox into a hug and said she'd go talk to him. Amber said she'd try to get a fire started while they were gone.

Thomas wasn't very far away and was pretty easy to find. He looked like he was deep in thought and didn't notice when Azure walked up next to him. She sat down next to him, not quite sure what to do next. A moment later she poked him on the shoulder. This seemed to free him from his trance. "Listen Azure, I'm sor-" he was cut off by her giving him a quick peck on the lips. "It's ok," she cooed. "But I-", he started "No, I mean it Thomas. It's alright. I had a little talk with her and it's alright that you like her too. Our relationship is already weird as it is," She said trying to lighten his mood. "Besides, it's not like I'm going anywhere," she continued starting to wrap her streamers around him. "So you're not mad at me?" Thomas said as he hugged her back. "Of course not," she said in her most sincere tone, as they just sat there holding each other in the cool, early evening.

Minutes later, the duo made their way back to camp. It was just beginning to get darker and cooler out. "welcome back," Amber smiled as she saw them approach. "Need some help with the firewood?" Thomas offered as he started looking in the small clearing that was made upon arrival. He didn't really wait for an answer though as he found a couple relatively dried logs nearby that he promptly threw onto the flames. After he saw that it didn't put out the fire he sat next to the small fox.

Thomas looked at her for a moment then looked down. "So I guess I have something I need to tell you," he said to her in a quiet tone. After a quick silence, he began to feel an unease and panic emotion start to emit from her. "Don't worry, you're not in any sort of trouble, in fact, quite the opposite." She looked up at him confused by what he could mean by this. "So earlier I was joking with Azure and she brought to my attention that I might like you a little more than you might think," he continued starting to go a little red in the face. Another short silence later he continued,"So if you might have had any feelings for me, it's ok."

For a moment she was shocked, she looked over to Azure to see how she would react to this but to her surprise she simply smiled and gestured towards him. Thomas saw she was still confused and asked if the Sylveon would try to better explain the situation while he got the tent set up.

After he got up Azure sat down next to her, she could see tears starting to form in her eyes from not knowing what was going on. With a small sigh she looked at the flustered fox and said, "You know me and Thomas' relationship isn't something that normally happens between a human and pokemon, right?" Amber slowly nodded and let her continue. "Well I saw just how much Thomas has been admiring you since you became part of our 'team' and when I saw you also had feelings for him I couldn't blame either of you." The foxes tears were turning from tears of fear to tears of joy as Azure continued. "So, since our relationship was weird from the beginning why not let you be part of it too," just as she finished her sentence Amber brought the cat-like pokemon into an embrace thanking them endlessly.

Thomas noticed the small explosion of happiness coming from behind him as he finally got the tent up, albeit with probably more trouble than he expected, he finally settled down next to his two partners. "So I guess Azure could explain what was going on a little better than I could," he said rubbing the back of his neck. Before he knew it, the small fire-type brought him close and quickly kissed him on the lips. "Wow, maybe I should have her do more of the talking for me from now on," he joked as he kissed her back.

"Now, not that I'm ungrateful for everything that's happened on this trip so far, this isn't quite what I came out here for," Thomas said as he walked his pack over to where they were sitting.

With a smug look on his face he began to reach into his bag. The two were utterly confused until they saw what he brought along. "Did you really need to bring a computer out here with you? Aren't we good enough," Azure said with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "What, you think I just wanted to come out here just to rut? We can do that back at home. No, I pull a lot of my creative inspiration from nature," he said getting it set up. "Specifically from sunsets and sunrises, so be ready to get up real early in the morning," he continued with an even wider grin on his face. "Yeah right, two days in a row? as if," she said as she walked over to see what he was doing.

Thomas had brought along his laptop which doubled as a graphics tablet so he could draw while they were out there. Although Azure thought it was kind of cheating, both her and Amber did enjoy watching him draw. So for the rest of the evening they watched as he painted and sketched out various things.

The clearing they were in had almost no trees around for miles and had a great view of the distant mountains. They all enjoyed talking and having dinner around the campfire until the sun finally went beyond the horizon. So after a bit of a long, confusing day, they all agreed to go to bed pretty early. Just as the fire was going out, turning into nothing more than hot coals in the pit, they all huddled up inside the tent. With Amber being the best source of heat they decided to cuddle up around her instead of Thomas.

Once again, Thomas was the first one up, but since he wasn't the center of attention this time, he was able to more successfully get away from them to get out and start drawing again. After getting the coals back up to a more useful, warm burn, he got out his laptop and continued his practice. A few minutes later he heard some quiet stirring from inside the tent and a moment later Azure stuck her head out. "I thought you were kidding about getting up early," she said in-between yawns. "Sorry if I woke you, no I wasn't kidding but you can go back to sleep if you want," he said trying to not wake the slumbering fox inside. Azure walked over to him to lean on him, "I can't fall back asleep," she said. Thomas picked her up to put her in his lap and continued working, and what seemed like seconds later, she fell back asleep.

For the next hour or so, Thomas worked on a picture of the sunrise until the sun was fully suspended in the sky. Hearing another yawn from the tent, Thomas saw his little fox stumble out of the tent with what seemed like a little limp but after another second she seemed fine. " _How long have you been up_ ," she barely seemed to emit in her still waking state. "Well, she got up a little after I did an hour ago but then passed out in my lap." he said, but just as he said that she began to stretch and get up.

"You're still drawing? How much battery life does that thing have anyway?" she said. "Well if you must know, I have a battery bank in my backpack and I brought a small solar panel for when I'm not using it. So who wants some breakfast?" And with a groggy, conjoined "me" he got up and grabbed the box he stuffed in the snow the night before.


End file.
